Sydney's 42.2-kilometre race is now the official 7th World Major Marathon

Marathon Tourism (or Exercise Tourism) is starting to pick up as a travel trend around the world.
Sydney Marathon welcomed 20 per cent more marathon runners this year, helping them get the race approved to become the 7th World Major Marathon
Sydney joins cities like New York, London and Reykjavik in hosting some of the world’s most rewarding runs.

Did you know that people are travelling the world to run in beautiful locations?

Marathon Tourism has been a major trend over the past few years. Also dubbed “exercise tourism,” the hardier, more active evolution of wellness tourism has cities around the world scrambling to register their biggest races.

And Sydney just got a big leg up, with the full TCS Sydney Marathon presented by Asics achieving Abbot World Marathon Majors (AWMM) status. Perfectly timed to help kick the city’s tourism industry into high gear.

According to data from social media-like exercise app Strava, there was a 20 per cent increase in marathon runners in 2023 compared to previous years. Is the allure of running very long distances a relic of the pandemic? Or is it more to do with awareness of jogging’s long-established health benefits? Whatever the case, having Sydney’s epic 42.195-kilometre race become a part of a global network of gruelling-yet-pretty challenges is a major flex for the harbour city.

To qualify, organisers cut the traditional half-marathon and put their full attention on the full Sydney Marathon. The efforts paid off. This year’s Sydney Marathon attracted a record-breaking 25,000 runners which has clearly helped them slide into the same category as some of the world’s most coveted marathons including popular runs in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

“I am thrilled that Sydney will become the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major,” said AbbottWMM CEO Dawna Stone.

“The team in Sydney has been working towards this day, every day, for more than three years, and to see the improvement in their operations and event experience to the point where we can now call them a Major has been deeply impressive.”

Nine Star ambitions

Sydney now forms part of the Abbott World Marathon Major’s next big step: the Nine Star.

Currently, the program awards a Six Star medal to runners who successfully complete all registered races. According to AbbottWMM, this will remain in place even when the Nine Star medal is introduced.

They’re calling it Nine Star because, after Sydney, there are still two major races potentially being included in the program in the next few years.

Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and Shangai Marathon are currently in the candidacy process. If successful, both will be part of the AbottWMM by the end of 2017, facilitating the Nine Star medal and giving the world’s most enthusiastic amateur and professionals runners a new aspiration.

Sydney finishers can start counting the race toward their Nine Star in 2025.

To help commemorate each runner’s journey, AbottWMM have introduced a special coin for each race. Sydney Marathon now has it’s own coin, for example, and custom displays can be purchased to showcase a runner’s achievements from two races to all seven currently registered.

Given Sydney Marathon’s new status, experts predict that next year’s race will attract around 33,300 runners from around the world, with that figure leaping to 37,800 in 2027. This values Sydney Marathon at around $73 million in visitor expenditure over the next three years—a boon for the city when taken with other efforts to boost tourism considerably (such as an improved nightlife and the new Sydney Metro).

When is Sydney Marathon 2025?

When Sydney Marathon’s shiny new status, the race will likely start to fill up earlier than usual. If you’re a local, or if you have plans to compete on your next Sydney visit, note that the marathon takes place on Sunday, August 31, 2025.

Registrations are not yet open for the Sydney Marathon but you can sign up for notifications. And when they do: run, don’t walk.